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Wolfgang Van Halen dedicates “incredibly personal” debut single, Distance, to his father

“This is for him.”

Van Halen onstage

Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

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Wolfgang Van Halen – the son of late guitar icon Eddie Van Halen – has dedicated his debut solo single to his father, an “incredibly personal” song titled Distance.

The song will be unveiled Monday (16 November) on The Howard Stern Show and will be the first time Wolfgang’s shared any material from his long-awaited solo album.

Distance is a song that was initially written for the debut album, but was going to be held for a later time,” the 29-year-old explained in a statement.

“I never anticipated Distance would be the first song of mine that people would hear, but I also thought my father would be here to celebrate its release along with me. This is for him.”

The track was said to be one of Eddie Van Halen’s “favourites” from the as-yet-untitled album’s recording sessions. The late guitarist himself served the song’s main inspiration, Wolfgang revealed.

“As my pop continued to struggle with various health issues, I was imagining what my life would be like without him and how terribly I’d miss him,” he said. “While this song is incredibly personal, I think anyone can relate to the idea of having a profound loss in their own life.”

Back in July, the Wolfgang took to Instagram to address the expectations rock fans might have for his debut album.

He wrote: “Being who I am, I think people at least will be interested in what my work will sound like, which is nice. But on the other hand, if it’s not exactly what they want to hear or if I don’t sound ‘Van Halen-y’ enough for them they’ll hate me and won’t give me the time of day.”

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